The Second Sandwing War of Succession
by Macygracie
Summary: The second sandwing war of succession has come. The sandwings are their venom, only one queen can calm them. Two will rule, one will follow. Two will fade, one will stay bright. Only the dragons of darkness can bring the light. Brightsting knows her sisters would be bad queens, and she only joined the war to keep the sandwings safe. But she worries that she made the wrong decision
1. Prologue

Many dragons stood around the dead Queen Palm. No one had challenged her, and now she lay in her bed, scales cold, heart still. Brightsting, Thistle and mirage sat vigil by her bedside, yet the sun was rising, and grieving would soon be over.

Thistle put her head up. She was one hundred years older than Mirage and Brightsting, therefore larger than both of them.

"I should be queen. I am the oldest. I would beat you in any sort of contest," Thistle said.

"I am smarter than you, much smarter!" Mirage exclaimed. "And prettier. Everyone would want me as their queen!"

"Don't restart the sandwing war of succession," Brightsting scolded. "None of you would be suitable for the role of queen. Yes you are strong Thistle, but you are too vicious, and dumb as a rock. Yes you are smart and prettier mirage, but you are too soft. I should be queen!"

"You idiots!" Thistle growled. "I should be queen!"

"If you want to go to war over this, we will," Mirage hissed. "Queen Rosewood is my friend. She will fight for me!"

"If you are dumb enough to go to war with me," Thistle growled. "Get out of the palace. The sandwings will support me. They don't want a pathetic queen. Brightsting, that goes for you too, if you want to fight with me."

"I didn't want a second war," Brightsting hissed. "But you leave me no choice. I will fight with you for as long as it takes to keep the kingdom out of your vicious talons."

Moonwatcher had lived for more than two hundred years, yet now her life was getting torn away from her frail, grey body.

But yet, she had strength enough for one more prophecy.

The dragons surrounding her were crying. Some were nightwings, some were not, some were students at jade mountain, some were not.

"Listen to me!" She rasped. "The second sandwing war of succession has come. The sandwings are their venom, only one queen can calm them. Two will rule, one will follow. Two will fade, one will stay bright. Only the dragons of darkness can bring the light.

A mudwing unsib with nothing left,

Unafraid to commit theft.

A sandwing with a stunted tail,

But yet can fly in the strongest gale.

A Skywing burning like a fire

That can burn right through the strongest wire

A seawing of the brightest green,

hidden from the seawing queen.

An icewing warrior lacking a talon,

Yet he is the greatest baron.

A rainwing living without sight,

A nightwing born on the darkest night.

Heroes fighting in every way,

With body and spirit to save the day."

With that last burst of energy, moonwatcher laid still


	2. Chapter 1

I fly out of the palace with only six dragons behind me. I know them all well. Opal is my best friend. Despite her stunted tail, she flies well. Shimmer was my assistant. Always doing things for me, she was very helpful. Rebutia always wears a cactus flower on her horns, and she always makes most dragons feel unadorned. But not me. I wear a few necklaces of opal around my neck, and that trumps flowers any day.

Fennec is Opal's brother. He is pretty... And I really need to stop thinking about that. Spike was the commander of the army, and he taught me and my sisters how to fight. And Adder is also Opal's brother. He is more golden than a usual sandwing, and has more scars. Always throwing himself into the thick of things.

As we fly away from the kingdom of sand, I wonder where to go. Queen Silfur will ally with Thistle, so not to the kingdom of Ice. Mirage mentioned Queen Rosewood, so not to the kingdom of sky. That leaves the kingdoms of Rain/night, Sea and Mud.

"We are flying to the kingdom of Mud!" I call to the others.


	3. Chapter 2

I see brown up ahead. Mud brown.

After a few days of flying, we've finally reached the kingdom of Mud. I can see queen moorhen's palace up ahead, and I sigh in relief. My wings are aching, and I need a place to sleep. I know that my sisters haven't gone there yet, Thistle will go to Queen Silfur first, and Mirage will go straight to Queen Rosewood to ensure a good nights sleep.

We set down in front of the palace. The two guards are looking puzzled. Usually they receive an army of sandwings, or none.

"Your names and your business," one barks.

"Brightsting," I say. The guard stops at the mention of my name. "I have come to request an audience with Queen Catbird."

"Come with me," the other guard says. "You stay here Swamp." Swamp nods, and goes back to the guard tower. We follow the other one to the palace.

Soon enough, we are waiting in the great hall to wait for Queen Catbird to arrive. Guards are all around us, and they are murmuring things like 'Brightsting? Isn't she the heir to the sandwing throne?' And 'what happened to Queen Palm?' The doors open, and old Catbird walks in, surrounded by her only remaining sibs, Carob, Penny and Brunette. Her dragonets walk in too, Lilypad, Tawny, Hickory, Cedar, Tortilla and Sienna.

"Hello Brightsting!" Catbird chuckles. "What brings you here on this fine evening?"

"Queen Palm died in her sleep," I start. "Thistle and Mirage restarted the war of succession. Both of them would be awful queens, so I decided to join to try and take the throne from their incapable talons. But I desperately need allies, and I was wondering if you could help me." I hope that was persuasive enough.

"Oh no, I'm not wasting my dragons in a silly war!" Catbird says stubbornly. My heart falls.

"Mother!" Lilypad growls. "The sandwings are our neighbours. Their problems are ours too!"

"Well I don't want to deal with them," hisses Catbird.

"You stubborn warthog!" Lilypad roars. "I you don't join the war for the sister who deserves to be queen, you're a fat inconsiderate lazy pig that doesn't care about her kingdom. More dragons will die if you don't join Brightsting!"

"Well, it's not our problem," Catbird dismisses. "And I could have you executed for using that language around me!" I see smoke coming out of Lilypad's nostrils. She is mad.

"Queen Catbird," Lilypad fumes. "I challenge you for the throne of the mudwings."


	4. Chapter 3

I gasp. So does everyone around me. Catbird is twice as big as Lilypad!

"What?" Catbird roars. She looks furious, and even a little... Scared? Why would she be scared? She is so much bigger than Lilypad, she could easily beat her in a one on one fight.

"We will do it now," Lilypad orders.

"At the Royal Arena," Catbird clarifies. Everyone is down here in the hall, so there is no problem getting everyone out there. The oldest dragon here, a Mudwing-Seawing hybrid named Rust, is starting the battle.

"Get into your positions, get set and... FIGHT!" He roars. Lilypad leaps up into the air. Catbird traces her path, but strangely enough, she doesn't try and use her fire. Her best tactic for challengers is to burn them in the air, then kill them on the ground. Why isn't she doing that now?

Finally, Catbird blasts Lilypad with her fire. I expect to see her falling to the ground, but no, she is staying in the air. Now everything makes sense! Lilypad was obviously born from a blood red egg, giving her immunity to fire, and explaining Catbird's fear.

Lilypad charges at catbird, and blasts her eyes with fire. Catbird falls to the ground in pain.

"I can't see!" She screams. Eventually she stops thrashing. Her heart is still. Her scales are cold. Lilypad is the new queen of the mudwings.

"All hail Queen Lilypad!" Rust calls.

"Queen lilypad!" The crowd cheers.

"The old queen is dead! Long live the queen!" Some of them call. I turn to Lilypad, who had just landed alongside me.

"Yes," Lilypad clarifies before I can ask. "I will ally with you in this new war


	5. Chapter 4

"I need to fly to the seawings," I say to Lilypad the next day. "My sisters will want lots of allies, and Mirage will probably fly somewhere where she doesn't have to search for her allies,"

"I agree," Lilypad says. "You will need a couple of soldiers though,"

"No," I say. "If I go alone, it will be obvious that I am no threat."

"But what if mirage or Thistle went there first?" Lilypad protests. "Then you would be slaughtered immediately!"

"I know my sisters," I hiss. "Silfur is vicious, and always saying how amazing thistle is when she sees her. It makes me want to sting someone."

"But what about Mirage?" Lilypad asks.

"She is lazy. She will send some minions of Rosewood's to do her work. They won't waste time looking for the seawings," I protest.

"But the Ice kingdom is close to the kingdom of sand, and she might have only spent a few hours there before moving on. And she might know that you would go to our kingdom first, then avoid the kingdom of night/rain and go to the sea kingdom to avoid a fight," Lilypad roars.

"Thistle is dumb as a rock!" I growl

"Then what about Mirage?" Lilypad asks. "She is smart."

"Yes, but she will know that the biggest kingdom is the kingdom of rain/night, and they will be better allies than the seawings. They are also more effective fighters and" I protest, but Lilypad interrupts me.

"Assassins!" Lilypad finishes.

"Well then, I'll make a deal," I sigh. "I will go to the kingdom of rain/night and take a small amount of rainwings, and then I will seek the seawing alliance. Then I will have a small bodyguard in case someone has already allied with the seawings."

"OK," Lilypad agrees. I walk back to my room. As I lie on the bed, and look at the darkening sky, I sigh. This is going to be dangerous.


	6. Chapter 5

As we approach the ocean, I know that I should start looking for the Atlantic Palace. That would be the smart thing to do. The atlantic palace is where the seawings go to greet guests from other tribes, so I suppose that it is on land, and should be easy to spot. As we approach one of the islands, a green seawing appears from the ocean.

"Why do you seek the seawings?" He barks.

"I will need to tell your queen before you," I say. He freezes.

"Fine," he growls. "But the others will need to stay behind."

"Why!" I ask.

"Because we are only permitted to bring one dragon to the palace at a time. Sorry, Atlantic's orders. Its been like that ever since I was hatched," The seawing explains.

"Fine," I say. I turn to the others. "Go to the ruins of the summer palace. I'll meet you there." They fly away.

"Follow me," The seawing says. Strangely enough, he starts flying towards the open ocean.

"I thought that the Atlantic palace was on land," I say.

"Thats what you're supposed to think," the seawing grumbles. Not much of an explanation.

"It can't be underwater can it?" I exclaim. The seawing doesn't answer. "If its underwater, how can we breathe?"

"Stop asking so many questions!" The seawing barks.

"Well at least tell me your name," I protest. This seawing is getting on my nerves.

"Seaweed," he tells me. "Not the most glamorous name, but better than the ridiculous names some of the royals have. Like old Akoya. Or Crepuscular. Three moons, what a ridiculous name!" I agree.

"I can't even see the land anymore," I say.

"Too bad," Seaweed says. I start to feel like we are going in circles. Now I'm feeling dizzy. Its a clever way to make sure that the location of the Atlantic palace always remains hidden. Another seawing flies up from the water. This one is light blue though, and looks much more friendly. He flashes a few lights at seaweed. Seaweed flashes back. Boy, I wish I knew Aquatic!

"How long can you hold your breath for?" Seaweed asks.

"One minute," I answer.

"Good. Stay right behind me no matter what," Seaweed orders, and dives down into the sea. I follow, but my eyes are stinging and I can barely see. I hate water. I'm a sandwing after all. I feel a current at my tail, and let it carry me towards Seaweed who is way ahead of me. It feels like my lungs will pop, but then suddenly, I swim right into an air bubble. I gasp.

"Welcome to the Atlantic palace," Seaweed says with pride.


	7. Chapter 6

The Atlantic palace is like a huge underwater bubble, filled with rooms and rooms all made of some see through substance as strong as metal. The suns rays are shining through the dome like they would through the water, and makes the palace look like it's got water all through it. The door must have been animus enchanted to keep the water out. Same with the rest of the palace.

I can see the guest rooms immediately. Thirty rooms for guests, five for each tribe. I look longingly at one of the sandwing ones, covered in sand, and even a Brightsting cactus, my namesake and the cure to sandwing venom. I can't even count the amount of times I have rolled onto Mirage while sleeping and stung her with my tail. It's not uncommon to need it a lot.

There are around one hundred seawing rooms, each with a little pool to sleep in. Except for ten, which have huge pools, and all sorts of decorations.

"I see that you are admiring the Atlantic palace," A voice laughs. Queen Atlantic.

"Hello Queen Atlantic," I say. "I guess you are wondering why I am here. I will tell you, but I am awfully hungry, and maybe I could tell you over something to eat." Atlantic laughs again.

"Sure!" Atlantic agrees. Actually, we were just about to have a feast, when you came in and that traitor Seaweed alerted us of your presence."

"Whats so bad about Seaweed?" I ask.

"He keeps shunning the royalty, disgracing them whenever he sees another dragon," Atlantic growls.

"He did tell me that some of the royals had ridiculous names," I say.

"Crepuscular was one of them, wasn't it?" Atlantic sighs. "She was my sister. I challenged her for the throne. Seaweed is still complaining. He... He was her husband." I gasp. No wonder he started shunning the royalty!

"Queen Atlantic, we must get back to the feast before it goes cold," insists a young green seawing. "Of course Whirlwind," Atlantic agrees. "Follow me Brightsting." I do. I see on the table a glorious feast, with seabirds, trout, tuna... And salmon! I love salmon! Just because I'm a sandwing doesn't mean that I can't like fish.

"There you are Atlantic!" A young seawing sighs. It must be Atlantic's only daughter, little Mola.

"Yes, I was just going to say hello to Brightsting," Atlantic assures her. "Sorry about the amount of raw fish, you can cook it with your fire if you like."

"Thanks Queen Atlantic," I sigh in relief. I like salmon, but raw fish is gross. Atlantic starts eating, and the rest of us do too. I cook lots of salmon, and I eat lots of seabirds, and soon I'm as full as a scavengers turkey.

"Queen Atlantic," I say. "It's time that I told you what I came here for."


	8. Chapter 7

"What is it brightsting?" Atlantic asks.

"Mirage and Thistle restarted the sandwing war of succession," I start. Everyone gasps. "If either of them became queen, they would destroy our tribe. I had no choice but to join, because I have a feeling that if I didn't, one of them would still see me as a potential rival, and kill me. I took the six sandwings I knew best, and we flew to the mudwing tribe to seek an alliance. Queen Catbird refused, but Lilypad, her daughter agreed with me and wanted to ally with me. Lilypad tried to convince Catbird, but she still refused. So Lilypad called her a stubborn, fat, inconsiderate, lazy warthog and challenged her for the throne. Lilypad won, so Lilypad is now queen of the mudwings. But I knew that I still needed another alliance, so I came here to seek yours. My friends are waiting for me at the ruins of the summer palace."

"Of course I will ally with you. I have seen Thistle and Mirage, and I also think they would be awful queens. In fact, If they came here before you I would refuse and capture them as my prisoner." Atlantic says enthusiastically.

"Would you like me to take her to her room?" Whirlwind asks.

"Yes Whirlwind, that would be wonderful," Atlantic replies.

"Thankyou for the hospitality Queen Atlantic," I say, thankful for a good nights sleep.

"Thats OK Brightsting," Atlantic replies. "And you don't need to call me queen, just atlantic will do. And speaking of titles, in the last war we called blister queen, would you like the same treatment?"

"No," I answer. "I am not queen until the war is over. You are already queen. You have more right to be called queen, so if you want me to call you by your name, everyone can call me by my name."

"You were always good with words," Atlantic laughs. "Go along then. It's a long flight here from the mudwing kingdom, and you'll need your strength to fly to the ruins tomorrow. We shouldn't make Lilypad and your friends worry. And you can take ten seawings of your choice with you as proof of the alliance. Just don't choose dragonets! I'll take you to the barracks tomorrow."

I follow whirlwind up to one of the sandwing rooms, and I lie down in the sand. I accidentally wipe some sand off into the centre of the palace with my tail, but it flies right back up to the room. I marvel again at the design of this beautiful palace. I see a area at the middle with some wood, obviously a fire pit. I set it alight, and rest assured that I have two tribes supporting me in the war, and I am prepared for the battle ahead of me.


	9. Authors note

Hey guys,

If you are reading this, it means that I have gotten bored of a fanfiction and want to finish it. But if there are enough people who want more, I will write more, but only if you review and say DONT DISCONTINUE THIS FANFICTION! Don't worry, I won't discontinue it if enough people want me to keep going.

So remember to review!


	10. Abrupt ending

For all you people who wanted this to keep going:

Yes, I got enough reviews to keep going, but I haven't got the inspiration. But because you all gave me so much support, I will tell you how I planned to end it.

Lilypad and Atlantic don't want Brightsting to do any actual fighting, but Brightsting disagrees, saying that "If I'm not willing to fight for my throne, no other dragons should fight for it either"

After the war has lasted a few years, Brightsting has a dragonet, Sidewinder, and two eggs of whom Fennec is the father. Atlantic also has a daughter, Sunfish, and it is revealed that she has animus powers. Atlantic wants to use her powers to win the war, similar to Blister. However Brightsting looks at Sunfish's powers, and asks whether she would be willing to use them, and says that it is her choice. A lot of dragons are shocked that Brightsting asked Sunfish's opinion, and Sunfish says that she will do minor enchantments, but nothing big because she doesn't want to lose her soul.

So Opal is the sandwing with a stunted tail, and when her and Brightsting are flying alone in a harsh storm, Brightsting falls away from her, and Opal can't find her. However she does find the other dragons in the prophecy: Duckweed, who tried to steal from Queen Catbird, so she could buy medicine to save her sister, but her sister died because Duckweed was caught. She now sees the other prophecy dragons as her sibs. Fire is a skywing with firescales, who survived when he was thrown off a cliff to be killed. He came back to the sky kingdom and freed Bjorn from the prison, Bjorn being an Icewing baron who was born with only four talons on his front left foot. Pangolin is a blind rainwing, who was blown off course in the storm. He was flying with Truthseer, an albino nightwing given her oddities because she 'sucked the moons' light into her scales'. Apart from Opal, they were all saved from the storm by Trout, a bright green seawing who is hiding from Queen Atlantic because his mother and father worked as a team to assassinate Akoya, but failed. Opal convinces them all to follow Brightsting.

Later, Fennec is killed in battle while Brightsting couldn't fight because she was to close to having another clutch of eggs. Brightsting is crying that the war is causing too much death, and wants to pull out. The prophecy dragons try to convince her not to, but she just doesn't want to fight any more. Then they come up with an idea to end the war.

Brightsting flies to the rainforest kingdom alone, and says to a patrol of rainwings that she wishes to surrender to Mirage, because there is too much death. The rainwings deliver her to Mirage, and Mirage doesn't suspect a thing. Brightsting says that both the kingdoms of Mud and Sea are under her command. Outnumbering them 3 to 1, Mirage's enlarged army defeats and kills Thistle. Later, when Mirage has settled into the throne nicely, Brightsting challenges Mirage for the throne. No one can object, so Brightsting easily kills Mirage, and takes the throne.

I am sorry for this abrupt ending, but I just didn't have the inspiration to keep going


End file.
